PUERTO PRINCESA CITY –– The mayor of Araceli town in Palawan, who won through a toss coin last May elections, was ousted from office, after an election protest and manual count of election returns from two villages was conducted.
Judge Anna Lea Tiongson-Mendoza, presiding judge of Branch 164 Regional Trial Court, on Tuesday, promulgated the decision in favor of former mayor Noel Beronio, who filed the election protest against Sue Cudilla on the ground of “anomaly” on the decrypted ballots from Barangays Dalayawan and Taluto.
Based on the manual count of the election returns from both villages, Beronio garnered 3,502 votes, while Cudilla got 3,498 votes.
In the May 2019 elections, both Beronio and then-challenger Cudilla received 3,495 votes.
The board canvassers ordered to break the tie through a three-out-of-three toss coin, which Cudilla subsequently won.